Three Years Later.

Three year old Madison ran through the tour bus in her diapers, with her Uncle Jason chasing her. I laughed at them as I read my book. He was trying to get Madison to eat the rest of her dinner, to no avail.

"Daddy!"she yelled, jumping into my lap. I grunted slightly, then winked at her.

"What is it, Maddi?"

"Tell Unca Jase that I'm full!"she wrinkled her nose up. Jason stood not too far away, arms crossed. I smirked at him, then poked Maddi's belly.

"I think I feel one more empty spot,"I told her. She frowned, then ran back to the table, eating up the rest of her macaroni and cheese. Jason sighed.

"How do you do that?"he asked.

"Do what?"

"Get her to listen to you?"

"Talent, Jason, talent. You lack it."

He scowled at me, then went back to his bunk. I sighed, putting my book down to watch Maddi. I could tell she was getting tired, so I went over and picked her up, sitting back down with her on the couch, and laying down.

"Daddy?"she looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Hmm?"

"Tell me a tory."

"What kind of tory?"I half-smiled at her mispronounciation of the word.

"A good tory."

"Okay. Well, let's see...Once upon a time...there was this pretty little girl named Madison. Maddi lived with her daddy, her Uncle Nate, and her Uncle Jason. Sometimes she'd go live with her Nanny and Pappy when Daddy was working. Maddi loved the rain, and thunderstorms, even though they made her a little scared. She liked-"

"Dad!"Maddi interrupted me.

"What?"

"I'm not a'skared!"

"Not as'kared of what?"

"Of thunner. An lighting,"she stuck her lower lip out.

"Your face is going to freeze like that,"I told her, poking her lip. She giggled, then laid down so her head was resting in the crook of my arm.

"One day, after it rained, Maddi wanted to go jumping in the puddles. Her Daddy said no, and that made Maddi mad. So-"

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Maddi?"

"I wasn't mad. I was just fwustated."

Where in the world did she learn the word 'frustrated'?.

"Oh, I see,"I smiled as Maddi yawned.

"Anyway, Maddi got 'fwustated' with her Daddy. And even though her Daddy told her no, Maddi sneaked outside without telling anyone-"

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"I asked, a little 'fwustated' now myself.

"I did tell someone. I told Gigi,"she said, referring to her teddy bear.

"Yes, but you know you're supposed to talk to me or Uncle Nate or Uncle Jason first,"I said calmly. She let out a short sigh.

"Maddi decided to go ahead and jump in the puddles, and she didn't have any shoes on. Her Daddy found her and made her go on time-out. Maddi woke up the next day with a cold. Her Daddy and uncles took care of her though, and by the end of the day she was all better, and learned her lesson. The end."

I had rushed the ending, knowing she had already fallen asleep. I smiled as I closed my eyes, going to sleep with her.

I wouldn't trade anything for days like this.

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flashback

The news hit me like a missile. At least, it felt like one had crashed into my life.

"No, no, no, it can't be her! She's pregnant, we're going to have a baby!"I yelled at the nurse on the phone.

"I'm sorry, sir, but-"She didn't get a chance to say what she was sorry for. I slammed the phone back onto the receiver.

"Mom! Dad?!"I yelled frantically. Soon Mom came running down the stairs.

"Shane, what is it?"She asked, worried.

"We need to go to the hospital. Now,"I said weakly, grabbing my jacket and car keys.

"Hold up, Shane. You don't look like you should be driving-"

"I'll drive,"I heard a voice behind me. It was Dad. I nodded, throwing him the keys and running out the door.

It was one of the worse drives of my entire life. I kept tapping my fingers nervously on my leg, while Mom called Jason and Nate, explaining what had happened and where we were at. They were on their way with Connie and Max, Mithchie's parents.

I ran into the emergency room after jumping out of the car before it was stopped.

"Mitchie Torres!"I barked at the nurse. She looked up sharply, awe covering her face. I could tell it was a fan.

"Where's my wife?"I demanded. She snapped out of it.

"Um..uh..let's see.."She was looking at her chart. I grabbed it from her.

"Excuse me-"

"201. Thankyou,"I told her, throwing the chart back and heading to the elevators. I pressed the button repeatedly. Why were these things so slow?!

"That won't make it go any faster,"Dad said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Well it should,"I snapped, then the elevator opened. Mom, Dad, and I all went inside. I began tapping my foot on the floor nervously.

This isn't like me at all. Usually I'm the calm, cool, and collected one. Nate is the one who freaks out. But this time, my wife and child's lives were on the line. Yeah, maybe I went a little beserk, but no one ever knows what they would be like in a situation like this.

I was out of the elevator as soon as it was opened wide enough for me to get through. I was rushing towards Room 201, darting around people to get there.

201.

The sign read.

Wait, this was ICU.

I looked around nervously, then peeked in.

I almost fainted at the sight.

end of flashback

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"Jason! Those are my SOCKS!"Nate yelled. I snorted back laughter at the expression on Jason's face. He knew he was in trouble.

"You can use my socks, Unca Nate,"Maddi smiled. Nate smiled back, crouching down to her level.

"That's sweet of you, Maddi, but I don't think they'd fit very well. Besides, Uncle Jason has his own socks,"he glared at Jason, emphasizing the last part of the sentence. I took Maddi's hand.

"I think your Uncle Nate and Jason need some alone time,"I winked at her. She grinned, swinging our hands.

We were backstage after a concert. I thought we were going to have a little crisis in the middle of it, when Nate happened to look over right when Jason was doing one of his kicks and saw his socks on Jason's feet.

I decided to stay out of this one. Things could get pretty ugly when you came between Nate and his socks.